JEDDAH, 19 March 2004 — The veil or hijab may be a factor in the low incidence rate of nasopharyngeal (nose) cancer among Saudi women according to Dr. Kamal Malakar, head of the oncology department at the Princess Norah Oncology Center at the National Guard Hospital in Jeddah.
Dr. Malakar began his research about three years ago by comparing the incidence rates of different cancers in several countries. He found that men are 25 percent more liable to cancer.
Removing all gender associated cancer incidents — such as vaginal and prostate cancer — from consideration, he still found that the ratio was 1:2.2 between females and males. Saudi Arabia had a lower ratio of 1:1.54 of females to males.
During his research, Dr. Malakar discovered a high rate of nasopharyngeal cancer in Saudi Arabia, particularly in Jeddah, Riyadh and Asir. The main causes of nasopharyngeal cancer are virus infection and smoking. Dr. Malakar suggests that the low number of cases among Saudi women is because they wear a veil from an early age, which protects them from the virus.
Dr. Malakar says nasopharyngeal cancer is very rare in Western countries but is common in Eastern countries such as China and Vietnam. “It is not reasonable to suggest that everyone should wear a veil, but in countries where the incident rates are low, most people wear masks in workplaces where there is a chance of a virus infection,” said Dr. Malakar.
